Key witness could take the stand Tuesday in Nima Momeni murder trial over Cash App founder's death

SAN FRANCISCO -- The high-profile trial of Nima Momeni, accused of fatally stabbing Cash App founder Bob Lee in 2023, kicked off Monday in a packed San Francisco courtroom.

Momeni is accused of murdering Lee by stabbing him with a kitchen knife. His attorneys are claiming self-defense, while the prosecution is painting a picture of Momeni stabbing Lee in a fit of aggression after he felt his sister was disrespected.

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Lee's death sparked national media attention as it appeared to play into San Francisco's 'doom loop' narrative revolving perceptions of escalating crime in the city.

Tuesday could be a critical day in the case, as it could be the first time the jurors hear from Nima Momeni's sister Khazar Momeni in an open courtroom.

The People v. Momeni trial, which is expected to last until December, began with opening statements from both the prosecution and defense teams. The prosecution presented the victim's 911 call and surveillance video and body camera footage of responding police officers.

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Omid Talai, the main prosecutor for the case, painted a picture of the moments before, during and after Lee was stabbed. He opened by describing the injuries sustained by Lee and showing photographs of his wounded body to the court.

"Stabbed through his heart and left to die," Talai said. "Our victim was stabbed repeatedly. Once in his chest, once in his hip and literally one puncturing his heart."

On April 3, Lee briefly attended a get-together at an alleged drug dealer's apartment where Khazar Momeni, the sister of Nima Momeni, was also present.

"You're going to hear that there was acid, cocaine, GHB and whippets," said Saam Zangeneh, Momeni's attorney who is based out of Miami. "Whippets" is slang for nitrous oxide, a party drug. GHB, or gamma-hydroxybutyrate, is sometimes referred to as the "date rape drug."

At the "uneventful hangout," as described by Talai, Khazar allegedly ingested GHB. Khazar apparently called Momeni in distress, according to the defense.

Lee continued the night by drinking and catching up with another friend, according to the prosecution. He then went to Khazar's apartment at Millennium Tower in downtown San Francisco past midnight.

Sometime around 2 a.m. on April 4, Lee and Nima Momeni left Khazar's apartment together, as shown in surveillance footage from the apartment. Momeni drove Lee to an area underneath the Bay Bridge on Main Street in San Francisco and allegedly stabbed him three times, Talai said.

MORE: Suspect to claim self defense in fatal SF stabbing of Cash App founder Bob Lee, lawyer says

Momeni was arrested in Emeryville nine days later after police investigators tracked down his white BMW seen in surveillance footage in the area at the time of the stabbing.

Talai described Momeni as an "overprotective, wannabe tough guy" who killed Lee for suspecting him of acting "inappropriately" with his sister Khazar on April 3.

The defense argued that Momeni acted in self-defense, saying that Lee first brandished the knife in a drug-fueled haze of paranoia and aggression. The defense said that Lee's toxicology report showed there were multiple party drugs in his system, according to the San Francisco Chief Medical Examiner.

"While Bob lee was sleep deprived, Nima Momeni was forced to defend himself and stand his ground," Zangeneh said.

The defense says they can prove through phone logs and witness statements that Lee had only slept for six hours over the course of 90 hours due to ingesting drugs, "mostly cocaine," Zangeneh said.

"After a 90-hour period of using drugs, Lee goes to control the knife. When he does so, that injury occurs to his right hip," Zangeneh said while attempting to show to jurors how pulling a knife out of one's pocket could cause such an injury. "There's going to be a medical examination that shows how the injuries occur and the viability of how they occur. The wound pattern is important."

After opening statements, the prosecution played the 911 call made by Lee after being stabbed.

TIMELINE: Events leading up to fatal SF stabbing of Bob Lee shown in court documents

"Help, help, help, help," repeated Lee to the dispatcher a total of 47 times. Lee's cries for help started off as yelling, then diminished to low-pitched utterances toward the end and grunting until first responders arrived.

Dozens of family members and friends of Lee were present in the courtroom. Some became emotional while listening to the call.

The prosecution also showed video surveillance footage showing Lee hobbling in front of an apartment building at 403 Main St., about one block from where he was stabbed.

"I observed Mr. Lee coming into frame on the camera," said witness Joseph Rinaldi, a San Francisco police officer who responded to the scene. "Both of his hands had blood on them and he was clutching at his chest. He then collapsed in front of the building."

Rinaldi's body camera footage was also played for the jury, showing Lee in the fetal position. He was "unconscious, on the ground not responding to officers," Rinaldi said.

Rinaldi and another officer followed a blood trail from 403 Main St. that went southbound down to underneath the Bay Bridge, he said.

During opening statements, the prosecution showed text messages sent from Khazar to Lee at 8:30 a.m. on April 4, after he was already dead.

"Just wanted to make sure you're doing okay," Khazar wrote. "Cause I know Nima came wayyyyyy down hard on you. Thank you for being such a classy man handling it with class."

The prosecution is hopeful that evidence from surveillance footage, forensics and text messages will speak for itself.

"I am not going to ask you to convict him because of one word out of my mouth," Talai said. "I am asking you to convict him because of the evidence, testimony, witnesses, pictures, video, texts, science, DNA and your common sense."

At the conclusion of day one, Momeni's defense team felt confident in their plan for his acquittal.

"I think it's going as expected for us. We were able to educate on the various pieces of evidence that had been left out," Zangeneh said in an interview. "The prosecution only wants people to see part of the picture and it's our job to kind of come in and color in the rest. We started doing that today with our opening statement. We're going to do it throughout the course of the case and up until the conclusion."

Copyright 2024 Bay City News, Inc.

ABC7 contributed to this story.